Return Anew
by WandaLake
Summary: AU after season 3. Lorelai has a dream about Jess. What happens when he returns to Stars Hollow?
1. Chapter 1

Lorelai knew she was dreaming. It was better this way because she could enjoy it without guilt. So as she rolled over onto her stomach, she gave into the pleasure without a second thought.

Warm liquid drizzled over her bare back as she let out a soft moan. Strong, rough hands spread the oil across her shoulder blades and moved slowly south. Stopping just before the swell of her butt, the hands glided back up. Soft pressure became more intense as waves of arousal flooded her body. Trying not to squirm, she sighed his name – "Jess."

Startled awake by the sound of her own voice, Lorelai realized she was covered in sweat. Blood was pumping through her body so hard, she could feel her veins pulsing against her skin. And she knew what this meant: there would be no more sleep until she got her release.

As her hand slipped down the slick skin of her stomach, Jess's image was brought sharply into focus. No longer being able to justify it with unconsciousness, the guilt of picturing her daughter's ex-boyfriend in any sexual manner washed over her as thoroughly as her arousal before.

So to her mind's image she added a scruffy visage, a couple of years, and inches to his height. It was enough of a change that the guilt subsided. But the hands she imagined in place of her own did not change. Soon this pseudoJess brought her to climax, and she drifted off into an unhappily dreamless sleep.

The buzzing of the alarm annoyed her awake much earlier than she was ready for. As she trudged through her morning routine half asleep, the events of last night stayed out of her mind. Her only though was her desperate need for caffeine. Of course, she headed to Luke's.

As she collapsed onto a stool at the counter, a gruff voice shook her out of her daze.

"You look like crap," Luke said as he poured her a steaming cup of his finest.

"Gee, Luke, you know how to make a girl swoon," she said in her sweetest Southern belle impression. She received only a grunt as he moved down the counter to serve other customers. With nothing else to look at, she followed Luke's progress around the diner with her eyes. _He's attractive in a rugged way. He treats me well even if a little sarcasm is added. Maybe I should consider him as a possibility._

This train of thought continued as she slowly sipped her coffee. _Of course it would be a little weird to go out with him since he's Jess's uncle._ And with that thought, she inhaled her coffee and choked. _Oh my god! How could I have forgotten about that dream? And that part after the dream?_ The voice in her head took on a higher pitch with each word she thought. Soon only imaginary dogs could hear her imaginary voice.

She thrust her hand in her purse and grabbed the first thing that felt like money. Throwing it on the counter, she bolted out of the diner. Rushing to the inn, she hoped that the million things she had to do today would distract her from her thoughts.

Lorelai was doing payroll in her office with the door left open. By forcing herself to listen to Michel's incessant drone as he answered calls and ordered the staff around, she was able to completely avoid listening to the voice in her head.

"Dragonfly Inn. How may I help you?... One moment. Lorelai, you have a phone call."

"Who is it, Michel?"

"How should I know? You do not pay me enough to act as your personal secretary."

Lorelai sighed at his snide comment as she picked up the phone. "This is Lorelai."

"Hi, it's Luke. Sorry to bother you at work."

"That's okay. What's up?"

"Did you know that you left me $20 today?"

"Was that not enough?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"All you got was an 80 cent cup of coffee."

"Oh…well, it was just really stellar today."

"Um…okay." Luke was unsure if Lorelai was distracted at the moment or if she had finally gone off the deep end.

"Is that the only reason you called?" Lorelai enjoyed talking to Luke, but she was so intent on not thinking about Jess that it took all of her concentration.

"No. I actually just wanted to tell you that Jess is in town. I'm not sure why. He just showed up and is probably going to stay with me for a little while."

Suddenly defensive, Lorelai spat out, "Why do you think I care?"

"I just thought you might want to give Rory a heads up for when she's home from Yale."

_Calm down, Lorelai. He doesn't know about the dream. _"Oh right. Okay. Thanks. I will. Good talking to you. Gotta go. Bye." She quickly hung up.

_Shit, shit. What am I going to do? I can't control these thoughts when I had not clue where he was. How am I supposed to not think about him when I'm sure to run into him?_

Lorelai's work thankfully provided respite from her worries for the rest of the day. It wasn't until well after dinnertime that she made it home. Digging into the Vietnamese food she picked up from Al's, she turned on the TV. Naturally, she avoided Lifetime and Soapnet out of fear that she would see her dilemma acted out in front of her. As she settled into an episode of 'Friends', the phone rang.

"This better be Rory because I don't want to talk to anyone else," Lorelai said when she answered the phone.

"Yes, Mom. It's me"

"Oh, goody! So how are you? Did your head explode yet from all that learning you're cramming in there?"

"No, but it's been feeling a bit heavy lately."

"Aw, well you'll just have to add reps to your daily neck exercises."

"Reps? Since when do you know an exercise word?"

"Michel was explaining to me the fine art of toning his butt."

"Oh gross!"

"Sorry, but misery loves company so I had to share."

"So changing the subject: What's new in Stars Hollow?"

"Well…our lucky town has been graced with the return of Jess," Lorelai said hesitantly.

"Really?... Do you know why he's there?"

"No and neither does Luke. Or for how long he's staying. I would understand if you want to postpone the 'Marty: Meet Stars Hollow' festivities."

"No. This is the only weekend he can get off work for a while. And besides, maybe we won't even see Jess. He's not very sociable."

"You're right, honey. And you shouldn't let him ruin your fun."

"I won't."

"Good. So I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Alright. Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Rory." After Lorelai hung up the phone, she took a moment to admire her daughter's maturity. But this only highlighted her own immaturity. _Okay. I don't know what my problem is. It was just a dream which I can't control. And the rest? Well that was just horniness and being half asleep. I have nothing to feel guilty about, and I should just forget about the whole thing._

After that, Lorelai watched the rest of 'Friends' and headed up to bed. Thanks to her personal pep talk, she enjoyed a peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile, Rory lay awake wondering what Jess would do if he saw her and Marty. She hadn't seen him since that day on the bus when he left without notice. That was almost three years ago. _You know, I moved on from him a long time ago. I'm happy now. I just hope he is, too._

The next day, Lorelai and Rory both successfully forgot about Jess. Lorelai woke up in such a good mood that she even offered to help decorate the town square for the Halloween Carnival.

"Lorelai. Even though you're new to the Decorating Team, you have to do it correctly. Follow your diagram and hang the bats in their appropriate locations."

"Calm down, Taylor. I just thought it would be fun for some to drop down as people walk by. You know, give 'em a little trick before their treat."

"Attacking bats may induce heart attacks or poke someone's eye out. I don't think that you can afford the lawsuits, and I know the town can't. If we keep the bats in the same place very year, out in the open, then everyone will have a safely spooky time." With that, Taylor made an about face and shuffled off to scold Kirk.

Ignoring Taylor, Lorelai muttered in her best Dracula impression, "I vill make you my first victim. Ah ah ah!" The rest of the afternoon was spent merrily spookifying the carnival. Exhausted from all the hard work, Lorelai reluctantly made her way to Luke's. She knew she was risking running into Jess, but she couldn't survive another hour without a gallon of Luke's coffee.

"Hey Luke! Strap on the IV. I'm dying."

"I thought for sure you had been kidnapped. You've never gone this long without coming in here to bother me unless you were mad at me," Luke said while filling the large cup in front of her.

"And did you call the police to report my disappearance?" Lorelai inquired.

"No. I was enjoying the peace and quiet."

"Pardon me while I laugh sarcastically: Ha. Ha." Lorelai sat quietly for a few minutes while she enjoyed the nectar she had deprived herself of for too long.

"Are you coming to the Halloween Carnival tomorrow, Luke?"

"Of course not."

"But I just spent many hours decorating the square, and now I want everyone I know to see it and praise me for it."

"Well maybe I'll stop by if I finish closing up early," Luke said as he refilled her coffee cup.

Luke and Lorelai continued to talk in between his serving other customers and her enjoying a burger and fries. Then Lorelai left to go put in a few hours at the inn so the day was not a complete write-off.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Lorelai awoke to a crisp Connecticut autumn. It was a bit too chilly to put on her Halloween costume yet, but she hoped that the day would warm a little. She spent too much time making her costume to let it go to waste. Plus she felt damn sexy in it.

She jumped into the shower and took her time shaving her legs. With her costume, she needed her legs to look perfect. A nick from the razor would not do. As she finally stepped from the shower, she began to feel a palpable excitement in the air. She wasn't quite sure what it could be but just wrote it off as excitement to see Rory.

Lorelai lay on the couch reading _Watership Down_ while she waited for Rory and Marty to arrive. _I just love these little bunnies. They better listen to Fiver if they know what's good for 'em._ Just as the rabbits were under threat, Rory and Marty walked in.

"Please tell me none of these bunnies die. I don't want the rest of the story to be about how lucky some guy is since he found a bloody rabbit's foot," Lorelai yelled to Rory as soon as the door opened.

"Ew. What are you talking about?" Rory said as she gave a look to Marty that said, _See what I mean about her?_

"The bunnies on Watership Down. Duh."

"How was I supposed to know that? I know you're nuts, but you need to try to behave because we have a guest for the weekend."

"You wanted Marty to see the real Stars Hollow. That includes the real, crazy Lorelai Gilmore." After Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Rory, she turned to Marty. "It's good to see you again, Marty. Make yourself comfortable here. And feel free to let your crazy run free too, whatever my daughter tells you."

"Thanks, Lorelai. But I don't really have that much crazy in me."

"You will when the weekend's over. Trust me. So first stop on the Stars Hollow tour is lunch at Luke's."

"Absolutely," Rory agreed. And with that, the three of them headed over to Luke's without remembering a particular male they might run into there.

As they walked down the street toward Luke's, Lorelai could see through the window that the diner was very crowded. Only one table near the door was free and an old couple in front of them was shuffling toward the diner. Lorelai knew what was about to happen if they didn't make a quick move. She yelled to Rory and Marty, "Run!"

The three of them took off down the street, though Marty was slightly confused. They got to the door just before the old, slightly stunned couple and grabbed the last free table. When the elderly couple finally made it through the door, Lorelai just offered them her sweetest smile.

"That was quite the despicable display," Luke said as he arrived at their table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. There was a giant cloud of bees chasing us. And behind them was a pack of wolves," Lorelai lied.

"And Taylor was chasing us," Rory added.

"Anything else?" Luke asked, looking at Marty.

"No. Anything else would make the story unbelievable," Marty smoothly said.

As the Gilmore girls started to giggle, Luke walked away without pouring them any coffee. This prompted Lorelai to go after him.

"Hey. Come back here. You didn't give us any coffee."

"I know. I needed to get you away from Rory for a second."

"Why? Something dirty?" Lorelai teased.

Ignoring her last comment, Luke said, "Jess is upstairs getting ready before he comes down to help me out in the diner. I just thought you might want to warn Rory and the guy who I assume is her boyfriend."

"Yeah, that's Marty," Lorelai said as she pondered what to do. "Okay, can we just get three burgers, three fries, and three cups of coffee to go?"

"Coming right up."

Back at the table, Lorelai said to Rory and Marty, "I thought we could get our food to go. I would hate for those old people to die before they got a table." As Lorelai said this, her eyes were gesturing up toward Luke's apartment and back and forth between Rory and Marty. Marty just thought this was Lorelai letting out her crazy while Rory grasped what she was insinuating.

The three of them grabbed the food from Luke when it was ready and left just as Jess entered the diner from upstairs. They didn't see him, but he saw them. A brief look of pain flashed across his face right before it was replaced by his usual nondescript expression.

Later that night, Rory and Marty set off for the Halloween Carnival. Lorelai stayed behind a little while longer to get ready. She hoped she wouldn't feel too ridiculous in her costume. The silver sequined minidress was shorter than she remembered. _I better not bend over,_ she thought as she looked in the mirror. She had already done her hair, with Rory standing on a chair to make it extra tall, so she was just about ready to go. Strapping on the silver stilettos, she slowly made her way down the stairs and out the door.

When Loralei arrived at the carnival, everyone she walked by stared at her. She even got a whistle from some guy she didn't know. _Well I guess the outfit is a success,_ she thought.

Seeing Luke, she smiled and made her way over to him.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Luke asked after he picked his jaw up off the ground.

"A Halloween costume. I'm Tina Turner. What are you, the Brawny man?" Just then, Lorelai saw Jess exit the diner and start to walk toward the square. _Dammit. Why in the world would he come to the carnival? I have to get out of here._

Lorelai excused herself from Luke and made her way to the opposite end of the square where she bumped into Sookie and Jackson. Sookie was dressed as an apple and Jackson was a banana.

As Lorelai listened to Sookie blather on about the absolutely cutest thing Davey did today, she couldn't stop her gaze from wandering over to where Jess was talking to Luke. _I think he got taller since the last time I saw him. He looks older too, but I guess that's 'cause he is. And I guess Luke doesn't allow razors in his apartment because Jess has the same scruffy look as Luke._

As Lorelai continued to ponder Jess's appearance and nod along to Sookie's story, she realized she had seen Jess look like that before. _Oh my god! He looks just like he did that night._ With that thought, a wave of heat spread over her body. _Can they tell what I'm thinking? _She felt the sudden need to get away from Sookie and Jackson before either mentioned her flushed appearance.

Lorelai told them she needed a drink and went over to stand in line at the concession stand. _Ok, Gilmore. Get it together. You're just going to ignore him, have fun, and leave as soon as no one will notice._


	3. Chapter 3

As Lorelai stood in line, she kept making subtle glances to follow Jess's movements. He seemed to be making his way toward Rory and Marty. _That little jerk is going to cause some trouble. I knew it._

As much as Lorelai wanted to go over there and stop him from approaching Rory, she knew the situation would be ten times worse if she did. Jess had a way of reading people's thoughts, and she couldn't let him read hers. Frustrated, she just stayed in line and watched the collision to come.

Without noticing, she continued to move with the line until she came up to the stand.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Can I take your order?"

"What? Huh?" As Lorelai turned around to face the punk kid who called her ma'am, a bat came flying down towards her face. "AHH! Jesus Christ!" Lorelai exclaimed before she could stop herself. _Way to go. Scared by your own decorations._ As she looked around to see who had witnessed her embarrassing display, she caught Jess's eye. Their gazes locked for seconds that seemed like hours.

Needing to get out of his line of sight and find out where Rory and Marty had gone, Lorelai hurriedly left the town square, careful not to trip in her heels. She made it back to her house with a minimum of stumbles. Once inside, she realized that Rory and Marty had not come back and must still be at the carnival. She consciously locked the front door although she would not admit to herself against what, or more accurately, against whom.

As Lorelai was thinking that at least Jess hadn't ruined their evening, there came a knock on the door. _I guess Rory forgot to bring her key._ "Coming!" she said as she opened the door.

"Already? I haven't even touched you," Jess said as Lorelai swung the door open. She was entirely shocked to see him standing on her front porch and more than a little affected by his crude words.

Trying to hide her reaction, she started in on Jess. "What the hell are you doing here? You didn't bother Rory enough at the carnival? You had to come to her home, too?"

"Actually, I wasn't bothering Rory at all. Her boyfriend and I were becoming fast friends."

"Yeah right, Jess. You came here to stir up trouble, just like you always have."

"Lorelai, I only came to Stars Hollow to see someone that's been occupying my thoughts lately. I didn't know Rory would be here. But since she was, I decided to apologize to her for the way I treated her in the past and wish her well. That's all," Jess said with a pleading look in his eye.

Lorelai noticed the look but couldn't decide whether he was pleading for her to believe him or for something else entirely. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer but couldn't stop herself from asking in a whisper, "So what are you doing here, then? At my door?"

"I just went where my thoughts led me," Jess responded back in an equally quiet tone.

As Lorelai realized the implications of what he said, she stepped back from the doorway as if in invitation. Jess crossed the threshold, and the temperature between the two of them soared. Lorelai could think of nothing to say with the roar of blood rushing through her and the sound of her inner thermometer breaking. She just shut the door and stood there, waiting for Jess to say or do anything.

Jess looked her up and down, appreciating the gorgeous legs that were completely exposed. Noticing her flush and heavy breathing, Jess stepped forward and kissed her roughly. All thoughts flew out of Lorelai's head as she moaned. Encouraged by the arousing sounds, Jess pushed her up against the door.

Lorelai wrapped one long leg around Jess as he held her upright. His hand glided up its smooth expanse until he was grabbing her under the ass and lifting her. Knowing he would want his hands free to explore her, he moved them over to the table in the entryway. He dropped Lorelai on it as he pushed all its contents to the floor.

From there, the pace became even more frenzied. Clothes from both of them were ripped off and thrown in either direction. Their kisses were wild and their hands explored all the newly exposed territory. But as soon as Jess entered her, they both froze. Staring at each other, they basked in the new sensation. When Lorelai adjusted to his size and Jess was sure their fun wouldn't end prematurely, he slowly started to move.

Lorelai squeezed both of her legs around his waist in an attempt to bring him closer, further in. Jess started to move faster until their movements were so hurried that both feared the table might break. Ignoring those thoughts, they continued to thrust against each other as their pleasure soared ever higher.

Jess's hands were all over Lorelai: laced through her hair, pulling at her nipples, and squeezing her ass hard enough to leave bruises. Lorelai was overwhelmed with the sensations and screamed Jess's name as she came. The contractions he felt all around him because of this were enough to push him over the edge as well. With a few more hard thrusts, he came, whispering her name in her ear.

The gratification the two just achieved did nothing to satiate their desires. Before anything else could be done, though, Lorelai had to hide the evidence. She cleaned up the entryway and gathered their discarded clothes. As she led Jess up the stairs to her bedroom, the only thing she said was this: "We have until dawn."

The rest of the night they spent memorizing the curves of the other's body and the moans and sighs elicited from each touch. Before the first light broke, Jess slipped quietly out the front door and made his way back to Luke's. He gathered his things in the first rays of the day and left Stars Hollow for good.

The end.

A/N: This was my first fic ever. The idea came to me in a dream, and I couldn't resist writing it down. I hope you enjoyed it. I want to give a BIG thank you to all the reviews while I was writing this. I couldn't have finished without the encouragement.


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